Better Late Than Never
by rajncajn72
Summary: Reid forgets Luke's birthday and has to make it up to him the only way he knows how...
1. Chapter 1

Luke can't believe it. He's done it again. You'd think that after three years together he'd be used to it by now, but he's not. Luke sits alone on the couch in the house they have shared for the last two years and looks around at the collection of a life together. Books on the coffee table, art on the walls, framed pictures of them scattered sporadically throughout the rooms. Sometimes it feels like he's in it alone.

It's not Reid's fault really, he's Chief of Staff at Memorial now and it's a time consuming position. Luke is nothing if not understanding about the hours the job requires, and the emergency pages in the middle of sex and family dinners, the lack of vacations.

But he needs Reid too, needs to know he matters more than the hospital, that their relationship is as much of a priority to Reid as it is to him. He doesn't feel that way now though, he wasn't asking for more than a happy birthday. He just wanted to be remembered. You would think that if Reid can remember what's going on with nearly any patient at the hospital at any given time, he could SURELY remember Luke's twenty-fifth birthday. He'd gotten a quick text that said Reid would be at the hospital late, he assumed it was a setup for something awesome, he was very wrong.

He continued to sit there and wait for the call that never came. By nine o'clock he's so angry he packs an overnight bag and heads out to the farm without leaving a note.

Luke had woken up excited and happy that morning, grinning before his eyes were opened. He's twenty-five today and for some reason that makes him feel less kid-like. Aging doesn't bother him, not that it should at twenty-five, but it does bother some people. He knows he'll be growing old with Reid and because of that he looks forward to the coming years.

He rolled over and moved his hand across the bed searching for Reid, but realized quickly he was alone. He sat up and ran his hand through his hair and looked up as the bathroom door opened. Reid walked into their bedroom, and Luke's breath caught in his throat, every thought in his head seemed to fly out at once and all he could see, think and feel was Reid. He loved that Reid never felt the need to wrap up in anything and was currently standing there in all his tight, toned, beautifully naked glory rubbing the towel in his hair to dry it.

Reid finally noticed Luke sitting up in bed and walked over, "Good morning sleepyhead," as he leaned over to give Luke a quick kiss.

Luke reached up to trap Reid and pulled him back in for a deeper kiss, which Reid reluctantly broke after a minute.

"Sorry, I would love to continue this, but I have a staff meeting this morning and a patient consult right after. Wouldn't do for the man in charge to be late to his own meeting." Reid said as he walked towards the closet and began pulling out clothes to wear and Luke leaned back in bed and watched his boyfriend dress.

"So what are your plans for the day?" Reid asked as he pulled the zipper up on his pants and reached for his shirt. Luke lost train of thought again as Reid bent over to grab his shoes out of the closet and he remembered Reid in that position last night bent over the dresser as they watched each other passion in the mirror. He needed to get in the shower before this got any worse, because he knew Reid couldn't stay and help him if his thoughts got his body out of control.

Luke threw back the covers, stood and stretched. He was wearing sleeping pants and as he stretched up the pants dropped lower on his hips showing off his abdomen. He chuckled slightly as he saw Reid stop what he was doing to watch Luke and groaned.

Luke approached Reid slowly, gave him a teasing kiss and leaned forward to whisper in his ear, "You're the one who doesn't have time…" Luke licked the shell of Reid's ear, "… remember?"

"You're an evil little man, Mr. Snyder." Reid stated as Luke walked into the bathroom.

Luke poked his head back out, "Why Dr. Oliver… you know there is _nothing_ little about me." Luke stuck his tongue at Reid and went back into the bathroom to get in a very cold shower.

Reid wandered into the kitchen for breakfast and some much needed caffeine. Luke came out as Reid was pouring the coffee into a travel mug.

"Ok, I've got to go before I really am late. There's a bagel in the toaster and coffee in the pot." Reid stuffed files into his briefcase, grabbed his coffee, gave Luke a quick kiss, and walked out the door.

Luke watched Reid walk away, his pants hugging that tight little butt, shit, he was going to need another cold shower if he didn't get his head out of the bedroom. He walked to the counter to get a cup of coffee, then stood there stunned as it occurred to him that Reid had not wished him a happy birthday.

Ever the one to give the benefit of the doubt, he knew Reid had a lot on his mind this morning, hell, once Reid walked out naked Luke had forgotten his own birthday and earlier excitement. Luke was sure he'd get a call later apologizing and offering the wish. Reid surely had something great planned today, because there is no way in hell he could forget two years in a row.

Reid is having a hell of a day. The staff nearly came to blows at the meeting, and the patient consult ran long because no matter how simply Reid tried to explain things the patient was a complete fucking idiot and just couldn't seem to get it. These were the times when he hated being Chief, when he had to sit there with a smile plastered on his face and explain the same damn thing over and over again, instead of telling the moron to pull his head out of his ass and use their fucking brain for a change.

It had just gone downhill from there and now he was easily three hours behind on his day, and he couldn't shake the feeling that he's forgetting something. He'd sent Luke a text to let him know he was working late nearly two hours ago and hadn't yet gotten a response which was odd for Luke, but Reid hadn't had time to focus on it. The interns were fighting amongst themselves, the nurses seemed to be having a stand-off with the doctors, and every last one of them were bitching to Reid and he just couldn't bring himself to care.

By seven o'clock all he wanted to do was fire the staff and replace them with more intelligent less bitchy ones, and go home to Luke. He remembered how turned on he'd been this morning when Luke got out of bed, morning Luke was sexy as hell. He still had a soft sleepy look to him that made Reid want to crawl into bed and wake him up completely in the best way possible. He couldn't believe it'd been three years and he still couldn't get enough of Luke. He wondered if he ever would, if he could ever have enough of Luke. He'd never been so happy in his life as he'd been since Luke chose him. He always said Luke chose him, because when he'd met Luke he'd never had a choice, he was Luke's from the beginning.

He'd been thinking lately of Luke belonging to him permanently. At first he'd dismissed the idea as ludicrous, but the more the thought rolled around in his head, the more comfortable he became with it. He hated the hours away from Luke and it was part of the reason he'd been waiting to broach the subject. He didn't want Luke to feel obligated to say yes, he might find that he couldn't take the time apart or the constant interruption to their lives. If Luke left him though, Reid wouldn't survive, his soul was already tied to Luke's so completely he's afraid he'd be ripped in half if it happened.

At eight thirty Reid was still lost in thought when he ran into Katie and Chris talking quietly and holding hands.

"Dr. Hughes, don't you have anything better to do than block the hallways?"

"Reid!" Katie cried, "Be nice, we were actually waiting on you Dr. Smartass." Chris hid a grin, because Katie always put Reid in his place.

Reid paused, "Why are you waiting on me? Were we supposed to do something?"

"Duh, what have you got planned for Luke? Something big? Are we invited?" Katie fired one question after the other at Reid, but he was still stuck on the first one.

"Planned for Luke? What the hell are you talking about?" Reid looked expectantly at Katie as he watched her face change from excited to complete horror.

"Oh my God! You didn't! You forgot… AGAIN! TWO YEARS IN A ROW!" Katie's voice got progressively louder the more worked up she got.

"Katie, calm down! Forgot what two ye…." Reid trailed off as realization struck, that niggling feeling he'd had all day that he was forgetting something. He must have written the date a hundred times today, and it never once clicked. Luke was hurt last year when Reid had forgotten, but he was forgiven pretty quickly and Reid promised he'd never forget again. He hated seeing that kicked puppy look on Luke's face and worse, he hated being the one that put it there. There's no way in hell Luke will be that forgiving a second time.

"FUCK! Luke is going to kill me! I'll call you later Katie, I've got to go." Reid jogged to his office to gather his keys and checked his phone, praying for a missed call or text from Luke. He touched his phone and it lit up… nothing there. Reid had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. This was _not_ good. He debated calling Luke for a minute before deciding that this was something best done in person, and he's not entirely sure Luke would take his call at this point. On his way out he was stopped twice, but his couldn't even try to maintain his patience and finally made it out the door and into his car at nine o five.

This was going to take a lot of sucking up, but Reid was prepared to grovel. He couldn't believe how different he was with Luke than he was with anyone else. Had Luke been anyone else in his life, they wouldn't even get an apology for the oversight.

Ten minutes later he pulled into the driveway and got an ominous feeling in the pit of his stomach. Luke's car wasn't there and the house was dark. He pulled out his phone and tried to call Luke, but the phone went straight to voicemail. The sick feeling was settling into his stomach. He ran into the house calling Luke's name, but knew he wasn't there. He tried calling Luke's phone again with the same result. He looked around everywhere and anywhere Luke would have left a note. Luke never left the house without letting Reid know where he would be, especially if it was late. Luke said he never wanted Reid to worry about where he was.

No note in either the kitchen or living room, so Reid went into the bedroom to look and what he saw made him want to throw up. Drawers were opened with clothes hanging out of them like they'd been pulled out in a hurry, there were a couple of broken hangers on the floor as if the clothing had been ripped out of the closet in anger. Luke was gone, he'd actually left Reid, and worse, Reid couldn't even blame him. He'd broken a promise to Luke and Reid hit his knees and fell apart.


	2. Chapter 2

Reid lay crumpled on the floor, he felt like the walls were closing in on him and he was having trouble catching his breath. How had he fucked this up so completely that Luke would just leave without talking to him first? Without giving him a chance to fix it…to make it right. He'd thought Luke was mostly happy with him. God knows they could never keep their hands off each other. He knew he was a pain in the ass to deal with, but Luke seemed to have it figured out. What was he going to do now?

Reid was ripped out of his stupor by the sound of his cell phone ringing and he began digging through pockets searching for it before realizing that it was in his jacket in the living room where he'd dropped it. He rushed to his phone praying it was Luke, but it wasn't, it was Katie. Reid almost didn't pick up, but he knew she'd just keep calling or show up.

"What do you want Katie?" Reid asked tersely, he was trying to hold himself together. He didn't want anyone to know how fragile he was at this moment, and one wrong word from Katie and he'd likely break further apart at the seams and actually start crying.

"Just checking in to make sure everything is ok. Was Luke terribly upset?"

"I guess he was." Reid mumbled.

"What do you mean you guess? Aren't you home yet?"

"Yes, I'm home."

"Ok, did you talk to Luke?" Katie thought trying to get Reid to open up was like pulling teeth.

"No, I didn't."

"Why not Reid? What's going on? Are you ok?" Katie asked worriedly.

Nothing.

"Reid? Are you there?"

Reid sighed, "Yes Katie, I'm here."

"Please talk to me Reid, I can tell something is wrong."

Reid breathed deeply, "I don't know what Luke thinks because he's not here, he packed some things and left."

"I'll be right there. We will fix this Reid, I promise."

"No, Katie, I wa..." Reid realized he was talking to empty air, and there was no stopping Katie anyway.

Reid tried Luke's phone again and still nothing but voicemail. He called Lily's with the same result, just an answering machine. He debated calling the farm, but it was after 10:30 and he didn't want to risk waking up Emma.

Reid tried Luke's phone one last time and when he heard Luke's voice he felt his eyes begin to sting.

"Luke, I know I fucked up, please call me back. I _need_ to talk to you. I don't care what time it is, call me when you get this. I love you." Reid closed his phone and leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes, trying to keep his emotions in check.

That's how Katie found him a few minutes later.

Reid opened his eyes slowly and looked at Katie when she touched his arm. "What am I going to do Katie? I can't live without him, I don't want to even try."

Katie looked at Reid sympathetically, "What makes you think he's gone for good? It doesn't seem like something Luke would do, you know, giving up without a fight. First of all he's just not made that way and second, he's completely in love with you, any idiot can see that."

"Well, he's not here, is he? He didn't leave a note, did he? He packed some things and he's not taking my calls."

"Yeah and we both know Luke can be a little dramatic. You _know_ he loves you Reid. You just have to fix this. I still can't believe you forgot again. Haven't you ever heard of a calendar? Putting a reminder on your cell phone? I told you I would remind you but you said you had it handled."

"I wrote it on my desk calendar and an idiot intern spilled coffee on my desk when he was fumbling for files. Luke bought me one of those stupid iPhones and I'm not that technical with phones as long as I can answer it and check voicemail I'm doing good. I know they aren't good excuses, but it just is what it is. What I want to know is… how do I fix it?"

Reid looked truly perplexed, but some of the weight seemed to come off his shoulders when he realized Katie was right. Luke was definitely pissed and had reason to be, but Reid also knew the depth of Luke's emotions for him. Luke had the most expressive eyes in the world and Reid could see every emotion Luke felt, second he felt it.

"Well, I can tell you, it's going to have to be something that would mean a lot to Luke, and unfortunately, you are probably going to be uncomfortable because he needs to know that you are sincere. So, with that in mind, do you have any ideas?"

Reid looked at Katie for a moment, debating what to do. "Yeah, I think I might have something, but I need you to help me with it."

"Whatever you need, I'm here. So, what are we doing?"

Luke sat at the kitchen table in the farmhouse talking with his dad. He's always been the more level-headed of his parents and Luke typically appreciated his advice. He'd been there for a couple hours and his dad had been surprised to see him there when he walked in.

"Hey son, what's up? I thought you and Reid had plans tonight?"

"I thought we did too, but apparently my _boyfriend_ can't be bothered to even wish me a happy birthday."

"He forgot? Again?"

"Yes."

"So what happened? Why are you here this late?"

"I don't know, I was just so upset I grabbed a few things and came out here."

"Whoa, wait a minute. You _left_ Reid? Over a forgotten birthday?"

"Left Reid? Why would you think I left him? I just didn't want to be there tonight, I was so angry. And really it's not just over a forgotten birthday. I know his job is important and I want to support that, but I want to come first with him the same as he's first with me. It just seems like the hospital gets all of his time, even when he's home, he's not really there."

"Luke, you knew what Reid's life was like when you got together, he's always going to be a dedicated doctor. But I know that he loves you. You should see the way he watches you when he thinks no one is looking, and he can't be more than five feet from you whenever you're together. Don't you see that? If you get up from the table and you're still in the kitchen, that's fine. But, if you wander to the living room or go outside then within a minute or so, he's there too. He obviously doesn't want to be away from you."

"I guess. I know I'm being selfish right now, but I just want more of his time. I need him Dad, so much sometimes that just the thought of him not being there makes me feel sick. But not in the way that I begged for Noah's attention. Reid doesn't play games with me and I always knew where I stood with him, right now, I'm just not so sure." Luke looked up at Holden with those sad brown eyes and Holden remembered how much trouble that look had gotten Luke out of.

"Tell you what, it's really late and I don't want you driving, so go up and get some sleep and I bet things look a lot better tomorrow. I'll make your favorite chocolate chip pancakes and we'll have a belated birthday breakfast. Sound good?"

"Yeah, dad, that sounds great. I'm actually really wiped out." Luke got up and hugged his dad good night, "Love you dad… and thanks." Luke gave Holden a half smile and went upstairs to his old room.

Holden debated for a moment, if he knew his son, and he did, then he'd left without telling Reid where he was going. Holden knew how worried he'd be if he didn't know where Lily was, and that was all it took to make his decision.

Holden picked up the phone in the kitchen and dialed Reid's number. The call was picked up on the second ring.

"Luke?" Reid practically shouted through the phone, and Holden jerked the phone away from his ear.

"Um, no, sorry Reid, its Holden. I just wanted to let you know that Luke's here at the farm and spending the night. I figured he might not have told you where he was headed and I didn't want you to worry."

"Oh, thank God, I've been out of my mind, and he's not picking up his phone."

"Well, he's a little upset right now." Reid snorted at the understatement.

"Reid? Did you really forget again?"

"Unfortunately, but not because I don't care. I warned him that me forgetting birthdays and anniversaries was a distinct possibility, but I do try with him."

"I'm not doubting how you feel about my son Reid. I just figured after last year, you'd have learned your lesson."

"I've definitely learned it this time. As a matter of fact, I've got something planned to make it up to him and I was kind of hoping I could get you to help me with it."

"Sure, what do you have in mind?" As Holden listened to Reid's plan he began to smile.


	3. Chapter 3

Luke rolled over and groaned, he felt like he was hungover. He reached for Reid and his hand found the edge of the bed instead. _What the hell?_ Luke bolted upright and nearly fell out of it. Suddenly, the night before came rushing back to him, and he flung himself back on the bed and rubbed a hand over his face.

"Luke? You awake son?" Holden called.

"Yeah dad."

Holden opened the door to Luke's room and grinned, "Well, let's move it, pancakes don't stay hot forever."

Luke chuckled slightly and swung himself out of bed and followed Holden down into the kitchen. The smell of pancakes, eggs and bacon assaulted his senses and his mouth watered. He missed breakfast at the farm, it always smelled better for some reason. Probably because he wasn't cooking it.

"So, what's on the agenda for today Luke?" Holden asked as he handed Luke a plate and took his to the table.

"Nothing much, a few things to do at home. Need to talk to Reid today, I shouldn't have left like that." Luke took another bite and looked at Holden, "Seriously Dad, I may kidnap you to cook for me everyday."

"Why didn't you call him last night?" Holden asked before shoving another forkful into his mouth.

Luke swallowed and answered, "Oh, my battery died and I forgot my charger. Thought about using the landline, but then I figured this better be face to face. Pretty sure he's not any happier with me right now than I was with him yesterday."

Holden nodded thoughtfully, "Hurry up with your breakfast. Katie called this morning and asked if we could stop by the station this morning to do an interview for the Foundations next event. If you need to, we can stop by your house for you to pick up something decent to wear on camera, like a suit."

Luke's head shot up, "A suit…what the hell for? Since when do we need suits for interviews?"

"Because Katie asked us too, and because it's for the Foundation, and because you're a big boy now and big boys wear grown up clothes," Holden chuckled when Luke pulled a passable impression of Reid's trademark smirk and eyeroll.

"Come on, we have to be there in an hour."

Reid still had his arm wrapped around Luke's pillow half-lying on it, he'd slept with it last night hugging it close because it smelled like Luke. Fuck, he was turning into a grade A sap. This was all Luke's fault, stupid hot, sexy, blonde with chocolate brown eyes and a mouth that was made for sin and could make Reid weak at the… FUCK! He was doing it again.

He threw back the covers and took a shower and contemplated his plan. He was pretty sure he had all the details worked out and even he couldn't believe he was going to do this. Luke had better fucking appreciate it after the hell Reid went through last night. It wasn't like he MEANT to forget Luke's birthday. Not that it was much of an excuse.

He'd actually bought him something for his birthday more than a month ago. He'd been planning to give it to him after cake, and sex… or maybe just using the frosting for a chocolate covered Luke so he could lick it away… double fuck. Mind out of the gutter Oliver or you'll never get anything done on time.

Reid finished dressing and double-checked the to do list he and Katie put together last night. Thank God she was so organized, he had been so frazzled last night he couldn't seem to string two coherent thoughts together. Reid grabbed keys, cellphone, and the gift for Luke and headed out the door. He was running about an hour ahead of schedule, but needed some sustenance and needed something besides burned toast. He still thinks the toaster is possessed and hates him because no matter what setting he uses the damn toast is always burned.

Reid stopped at Al's for breakfast and then went to the bakery to pick up Luke's cake. He laughed when he saw the top and headed back out to the car.

Holden drove Luke to his house so he could change into something more appropriate for TV than jeans and a t-shirt. Luke was somewhat surprised not to see Reid's car there since he was pretty sure it was his day off.

"Be right back Dad," Luke said as he climbed out of the car to rush into the house. They were going to be late if he didn't hurry, so he quickly changed clothes and headed back outside.

They drove to the studio in silence, Luke wondering if Reid was called in on an emergency. Praying that it was something that simple. Until his dad had mentioned it, he'd never even thought of leaving Reid, but what if Reid thought that's what he'd done? Surely Reid would know he didn't give up that easily.

Holden pulled into the parking lot of the studio, "We're here, you ready son?"

Luke sighed, "I guess, I just wish she'd given us more notice, we could have prepared more." They got out of the car and walked inside.

Luke saw Katie first, she was practically bouncing and her grin was contagious. Luke found himself grinning at her in return as she ran up to him and practically threw herself into his arms. "Hey Katie, what's got you so bubbly today?"

Luke could tell that Katie was physically trying to control her grin but just couldn't seem to manage it.

Luke leaned toward Katie and conspiratorially whispered, "Katie… did you get laid last night?"

Katie gasped, dropped the grin and then hit Luke on the arm, "That is none of your business mister. You've been spending way too much time around Reid, all of his bad habits are rubbing off on you."

Luke snickered at Katie's choice of words, and she rolled her eyes at him, "Luke, I swear sometimes you really are like a twelve year old."

That caused all three of them to erupt in laughter.

Katie pulled herself together and said, "Ok, so here's what's going to happen. Luke you will be in the middle chair there, with Holden and I on either side. We'll bring you out first so you can give us a little history on the Foundation and then we'll bring out Holden and get more details from both of you on the Fundraiser and the cause it benefits, etc. Sound good?"

Luke looked around at the set, it looked different, they are usually on a kitchen type set, but this one seemed to be more like a living room, with nice leather furniture and a table to the side with a couple of boxes on them.

"Earth to Luke… Hello?" Katie was snapping her fingers at Luke.

"Sorry Katie, yes, that's fine. I've talked about the Foundation enough that this should be pretty easy fortunately." Luke headed toward the set and the tables with the boxes, but Holden pulled him back.

"She has to introduce you first, remember? Oh and this one is going out live."

Luke's mouth dropped open, "What do you mean live? You didn't tell me that? Why didn't you tell me that? I have to wing it LIVE!"

"Trust me son, you'll be just fine, I promise." Luke could hear Katie droning on in the background.

"And now we'd like to welcome Luke Snyder, CEO of Grimaldi Shipping and Founder of the Luke Snyder Foundation." Katie grinned and motioned Luke to the set.

Luke took his assigned seat next to Katie and crossed his legs nervously and began tapping his thigh with the tips of his fingers. It was a ridiculous nervous habit, but he couldn't make it stop.

Katie looked at him and smiled, "Welcome to the show Luke, how are you today?"

"Not bad Katie, happy to be here to talk about the wonderful work the Foundation does and our upcoming fundraiser."

"Great, so Luke I understand you had a pretty significant birthday yesterday, is that right?" Katie had crossed her legs and was leaning towards him like he was the most interesting person in the world. She was totally cut out for this crap.

"Um, yes, I turned twenty-five yesterday," Luke grinned sheepishly.

"I also understand your boyfriend forgot your birthday. I'd have been pretty ticked off if my boyfriend forgot my birthday. Especially if he'd done it two years running like yours did. I bet you were really mad."

Luke face reflected his complete confusion. What the fuck was Katie doing? Advertising to the whole fucking world that he wasn't important enough to his boyfriend to have his birthday remembered? He looked to his Dad for help, but Holden was playing on his cell phone. Why was he letting this go on?

Luke stuttered, "Uh..Um..Hmmm, Katie, what are you doing? We're live here, remember? And we are definitely NOT here to talk about my personal life." Luke's face was tinted red, and he was shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"Actually, I thought we'd bring your boyfriend out so he could explain to you how he could possibly forget your birthday... Dr. Reid Oliver ladies and gentlemen."

Luke leaned over his chair and glared at Katie while trying to keep a smile on his face and talking through his teeth, "What the hell do you think you are _doing_!" Katie just widened her smile and stood to shake hands with Reid… wait, what? Reid? There's no way Reid went along with this.

"Dr. Oliver, thanks so much for joining us today. How about if I just turn this over to you now?" With that Katie stepped off-set and left just Luke and Reid there. Luke was completely confused and utterly embarrassed, and still what the hell was Reid doing there?

Luke leaned closer to Reid and whispered, "Reid, what's going on? Do you know, because I swear to you I have no idea what this is all about." Luke was near tears at this point, and he seriously didn't want to cry in front of all of Oakdale, or all of where ever, how many people watch this show anyway?

Reid sat on the coffee table in front of Luke so he could see him directly and took one of Luke's hands in his, "Luke, I'm really sorry that I forgot your birthday yesterday. Please don't think it was because you mean less to me than you do. You ARE my first priority, my first concern even if you don't see it all the time. I know the adjustment to this new job has been difficult, but I swear to you that I'm going to make more of an effort to delegate so I can spend more time with you. When I came home last night and thought you'd left me, I felt like my soul had shattered. I used to think being a doctor was all that mattered, but I was so incredibly wrong. You are what matters to me. I love you more than anything in this world." Reid took a breath and looked at Luke who had tears running down his face and Reid still thought the blonde was the most beautiful man in the world.

"So, I actually have two presents for you, I bought one of them over a month ago. I don't want you to think I just ran out and grabbed the first things I saw to try and make this better." Reid leaned over to the table and grabbed the boxes sitting there. There was an envelope on the top that Reid handed to Luke first.

Luke's hands were shaking as he took the envelope and he couldn't seem to stem the flow of tears. He turned the envelope over and lifted the flap and pulled out two airline tickets. "Oh my God! Reid! You remembered! But I told you about this more than six months ago, I didn't even think you were listening." Luke and Reid had been at a Greek restaurant for lunch and Luke had mentioned in passing that he'd always wanted to visit Athens because the history there fascinated him. Reid really hadn't commented at the time and Luke moved on to other topics.

"These are for a whole month in Athens. Can you get a month off? When can we go? What ar…" Reid leaned over and gave Luke a quick kiss.

"You've got to learn to be patient Mr. Snyder, I'm not done yet remember?" With that Reid leaned back to grab the largest box and put it in Luke's lap. Luke looked down and pulled the top off the box. It was a cake, he read the greeting aloud, "I'm sorry I'm such an ass, but will you marry me anyway?" Luke gasped and looked at Reid who was now on one knee in front of Luke with a platinum band in his hand that he'd bought all those weeks ago.

Reid moved the cake box out of Luke's lap and cleared his suddenly very thick throat, "I know I'm not perfect, and I will probably always forget things like birthdays, anniversaries, but I also promise to always try to do better. I wanted you to know how serious I was about this. We _are_ on live television, your family _is_ watching, and I'm risking you saying no and humiliating me publicly. But you deserve no less than this. You make me a better man, and I want to live my life with you, please say you'll marry me."

Luke was fully crying now and dropped to his knees with Reid and threw his arms around the older man, and held on tight. "I love you so much Reid, of course I'll marry you, nothing would make me happier. My life was already yours forever."

Reid pulled back and kissed Luke gently then took his hand. "I'm going to let you look at the engraving, but then I'm going to put it on you myself." Reid looked at Luke seriously knowing there was a good chance the blonde would put it on himself in his excitement.

Luke nodded excitedly and took the ring from Reid, scripted inside was "_My Life. My Love. My Soul. All are yours."_

Luke put the ring back in Reid's hand and leaned forward to kiss him again. He moved back slightly and said, "Mine are all yours as well," as Reid slipped the ring onto his left ring finger.

They stood up amongst the clapping that erupted from the crew, and Katie was back on set with tears in her eyes thanking everyone for joining them for this special episode. Holden was standing there quietly crying over seeing his son so happy. He couldn't have asked for a better man than Reid for Luke. They were the perfect compliment to one another.

Luke and Reid only had eyes for each other as they kissed and held each other close.

"Thank you so much for this Reid. You know I'd have forgiven you without it though." Luke laid his forehead on Reid's and smiled.

Reid rolled his eyes and smirked, "Yes, I know you would, how could you not? Look at me, I'm awesome."

Luke punched him playfully in the shoulder and Reid grabbed Luke around the waist and kissed him.

"I know you'd have forgiven me, but you would always wonder if you really mean everything to me, I know how your crazy little mind works. I need you to know definitively that you are it for me."

Luke grabbed Reid's hand and kissed the inside of his palm. He was still so close to Reid there was barely room for a piece of paper between them, and he whispered in Reid's ear, "Why don't we go home and I'll show you how incredibly happy I am with my fiancé. I had a hard time sleeping last night. All I could think about was you walking around our bedroom yesterday morning naked reminding me how incredibly lucky I am."

Reid did not need to be asked twice, he grabbed Luke's hand and started moving. He stopped long enough to hug Katie, shake Holden's hand and thank him for helping and grab the cake. He had plans for that cake.


End file.
